Skip to main content

I've just come to the realization that my beloved Post War Lionel has, for all intents and purposes, may no longer be King.

The vast majority of magazine articles and posts to the OGR Forum pertain to the more modern O gauge trains.

When you deduct the WW2 break, and 1969 (was there any real manufacturing that year?), Post War Lionel production was only 22 years. MPC, LTI, etc. has now been 51 years. Where has the time gone?

Your thoughts on this subject? Is scale and digital the new King?

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

There are enough trains on the market (prewar, postwar, modern era, Lionel, MTH, etc.) and more coming yearly to satisfy everyone.  

While the majority of the OGR forum seems to address modern scale trains, the information from these brilliant individuals serves as a great inspiration for the rest of us.

The hobby and particularly running 3 rail trains had expanded to allow for the small 4x8 setup to the professional layouts. Embrace it all.

Life is short, enjoy your trains.

Postwar is still alive, but decidedly no longer king as it was 1946 through let's say 1994.  The MPC era certainly had its day, and with the introduction of scale models from Weaver, Right of Way, etc. in the 1990s, the long and winding road to scale modeling in three rail began,  and was accelerated by the invention of TMCC and high quality Railsounds in the latter half of the 1990s.  Thus we've had a 25 year plus era of command control, digital sounds, and scale detailing that equals the length of time if not the huge volume of postwar trains. I personally own only a few postwar originals but lots of postwar reissues.

I avoided O gauge into my 30's because all I knew about it was post war and MPC era Lionel that my Uncle had running on a layout under his HO layout.  It was just not my generation growing up with HO and watching real trains run by my house at least 10 times a day or more.  I have always wanted my trains to look like the ones I see in real life.  Seeing scale O is what made me make the jump into this gauge.

However, now that I have been a TCA member for a little over 20 years, I have come to appreciate post war Lionel for what it is and was.  I have a few collectors pieces that I enjoy, but big scale trains on broad curves has always been my predominant interest in this hobby regardless of scale. 

I also have come to appreciate, Auburn, Kusan, Bing, Dorfan, Marx, Flyer, Ives, and lots of other manufacturers as well.  The greatest part of the hobby is that it is a big tent with room for lots of different interests. 

Seems to have been a lot more interest in small layouts over the past several years, maybe due to fewer basements and millions of people living in town houses.   

A typical Post War engine will, even at its slowest smooth operating speed, traverse  a 6 to 8 foot straight run in a matter of  3 or 4 seconds, so not much fun to watch.  This may have helped push the popularity of the slower and smoother can motor engines, whether Command Control or Conventional.

When I was growing up in the early to mid 60s, 12 foot long layouts were not uncommon.

Mannyrock

Yesterday, I made the switch to running scale size cars behind my scale diesel locomotives. I was using postwar and traditional sized rolling stock before but now postwar rolling stock will be regulated to postwar locomotives.

im not ready to seep it off yet but I can say for certain I have purchased my last traditional sized rolling stock. It’s all scale from now on.

A quick look at recent Lionel catalogs will show that Lionel has all but abandoned the traditional line. Time to go with the flow.  Look at eBay values for traditional rolling stock. Operating condition postwar is selling by the pound. It’s over for postwar being the driving force of the hobby.  I’m going with the flow.

From the late 80s (when I got into O gauge) through something like 2000, Postwar was hot around here, and many collectors/operators didn't seem that interested in anything else. The prices for Postwar had gone through the roof. At some local TCA meets, it seemed like all the members' attention was on the Postwar items, and not so much the newer stuff. A lot of the newer stuff was selling, but Postwar was the gold standard.

In the last 25+ years, a lot of those who were nuts about Postwar (and grew up with it) are gone, and technology and the move to scale has transformed the O gauge world. Certain Postwar, if it's in excellent condition, still brings high prices, but the rest has tumbled in value. There's far less interest in it, with most buyers these days wanting the latest features - refined sound systems, DC can motors with cruise, constant voltage directional lighting, electrocouplers, scale details and add-on parts, etc.

The nostalgia value of Postwar is still there for many, though, so it still has some allure, but it's not as widespread as it used to be.

My older brother was into pre- and post-war trains as well as my father-in-law.

I ran trains with them, and it was fun, but their trains never interested me.  When O scale trains started showing up, I though they were nice but it was not until RailSounds came alone that I really got into what was becoming model trains.

My brother and f-i-l would have said post war was king, and could provide several reasons why.  They are gone now, so for our family now modern is king.



A quick look at recent Lionel catalogs will show that Lionel has all but abandoned the traditional line. Time to go with the flow.  Look at eBay values for traditional rolling stock. Operating condition postwar is selling by the pound. It’s over for postwar being the driving force of the hobby.  I’m going with the flow.

Mad,

Are you sure?  With all due respect I don't see this.  Yes, the scale-sized stuff seems to occupy a little more of the catalog each year, but not a lot.

Lionchief, in all its forms, still provides traditional-sized things, and in fact seems to have a little more every year as well.

What's clearly long-gone are conventional-only controlled locomotives.  Some folks have a problem with this, including many WBB and RMT buyers.  The broader Lionel market apparently doesn't care.

Mike

I left HO, where money would buy you any prototype, and it might only be in brass, which meant more than l could afford, (by far), to seek out childhood desired Marx rolling stock l could not afford for childhood layout.   But in HO it had been done and modeled.  Even in that boom period fairly recently passed, every time somebody said "all the trains have been made", l sneered, if they were discussing three rail 0.   During the boom it looked like many would be made, but too much was duplicated and repetitive. Now l fear the market has shrunk, and while we are getting a new roadname variety in engines and cars, due to short runs, the market won't support anything approaching the HO prototype variety.

Mad,

Are you sure?  With all due respect I don't see this.  Yes, the scale-sized stuff seems to occupy a little more of the catalog each year, but not a lot.

Lionchief, in all its forms, still provides traditional-sized things, and in fact seems to have a little more every year as well.

What's clearly long-gone are conventional-only controlled locomotives.  Some folks have a problem with this, including many WBB and RMT buyers.  The broader Lionel market apparently doesn't care.

Mike

Hi Mike,

I do think so. Most of the traditional cars are gimmicky. Now, there is nothing wrong with that but if you want freight cars with traditional road names from Lionel then you have to go now with scale, at least in the newer catalogs.

Mike, are you sure?  There are tons of NIB conventional operating locos with can motors for sale.   Marios always has lots of them.  Williams, Bachman, RMT.  It looks like there is a lifetime of them.

Maybe there aren't many new ones in the latest catalogs, but I see the cost of the Command Control locos going so high that eventually the number of sales is going to be fewer and fewer.   The prices in the Lionel catalogs are, for the average middle class person, nearly off the charts.  ("Hey honey, good news.  I just bought Jr. a train set for Christmas, and it only cost $600!")

Just my thoughts.   I may be incorrect. 

Mannyrock

While I grew up with Post War stuff we could not afford a lot of it due to the outrageous prices during that time. I still have Post War and Newer Digital and Scale which I lean more towards. I like to think without Pre and Post War trains we may not have the models we now have today. So as Far as I am concerned it will always be king.

I agree, PW may no longer be King given the ability to run command control and scale sized equipment.

For myself I own some postwar - only because it was given to me.  The only PW I've actually purchased were a set of passenger cars from Madison Hardware when it was located in Detroit.   I do appreciate PW but it never took my fancy as some of the equipment was just to toy like for my taste. 

I came into O gauge in the 1990's due to Richard Kughn and the scale Hudson.  Then scaled offerings by Right of Way and others sealed the deal.

Like GG1 4877 I too experienced the constant running of real trains past our home both day and night.  Which is probably why the toy like features never appealed to me.   

Add Reply

Post

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×